laststandonzombieisland

You can almost see Santa’s house from here

Posted on December 2, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

How about these images of a Royal Danish Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules of Flyvestation Aalborg-based Eskadrille 721 (“Zap”) conducting a resupply mission at the Joint Artisk Kommando Station Nord outpost in Greenland, home to the famed Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (Slædepatruljen Sirius). It is dark there from 15 October to 28 February, and in November the mean daily high temperature is -20°F.

The 6,200-foot landing strip at Station Nord was built in the 1950s in a joint Danish-U.S. effort, and the base has been wholly Danish since 1975. It is kept open for approximately 300 days a year and is maintained with two large snow blowers and two snow plows.

Station Nord is approximately 2,360 air miles from Copenhagen but only 574 miles from the geographic North Pole.

Station Nord when the sun is up.

By comparison, the furthest northern U.S. airstrip, Arctic Village Airport, Alaska, is about 1,200 miles from the Pole, and the “most northern airport in the world,” Longyearbyen in the Norwegian Svalbard chain, is 800 miles. The U.S. maintains Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), Greenland, which is located approximately 950 miles from the North Pole. Only Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, which is about 490 miles south of the Pole, is closer to the roof of the world.

Denmark has been a C-130 user since 1973 and has used them operationally in Bosnia and Afghanistan, replacing its trio of older C-130H birds with four long-fuselage C-130Js by 2007, the first Scandinavian country to bring the Super Hercules into service.

The PCC in your Waistband

Posted on December 2, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

The new Flux Defense P365 Ultra-Light Chassis System is engineered to be a standalone component, utilizing existing P365 firearms, slides, barrels, and magazines.

It uses a longer-barreled P365 (P365XL, TACOPS, and P365 FUSE) and 17- or 21-round magazines to give the user a holsterable and arguably concealable option that is 3 inches shorter and significantly lighter than an MP5K.

Plus, it only costs $499, a price that, when coupled with extra mags and a compatible longslide P365, puts you in the game for about $1,200.

Key Performance Features and Specifications Include:

Patented Speedload System: Facilitates faster reloads than traditional pistols or other PDWs, ensuring operators maintain an advantage.
Enhanced Capacity: Supports up to 50 rounds on the gun with optional magazine extensions, providing extended engagement capability.
Superior Control: A built-in shroud ensures a secure C-clamp grip and promotes flatter shooting, significantly improving accuracy and follow-up shots.
Lightweight, Durable Construction: Crafted from military-grade glass-filled nylon and S7 steel, featuring a Type 3 hard anodized shroud for exceptional resilience without added bulk.
Optimal Velocity Option: Features an optional 6-inch barrel to increase velocity, surpassing the performance of an MP5K.
Included 2.0 Adjustable Holster: Ships with the new 2.0 holster, designed for ultimate flexibility. It can be hard-mounted in the vehicle for quick access or carried with you, supporting both inside (IWB) and outside the waistband (OWB) configurations.
Compact & Extendable Design:
- Collapsed: 9.75″ L x 4″ W x 1.375″ H
- Extended: 18.5″ L x 4″ W x 1.25″ H
Ergonomic Length of Pull: 13.5″ for comfortable and stable handling.

I could see these being useful for personal protection details, high-value couriers, long-distance truckers, individuals who spend a lot of time in their vehicles in remote areas, and, well, anyone who wants to be the most well-armed person in the produce section.

From small beginnings…

Posted on December 2, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Some 250 years ago this week, on 3 December 1775, the 30-gunned three-masted Continental ship Alfred was commissioned in Philadelphia, marking the first time the Grand Union Flag– a combination of the British Flag and 13 stripes representing the thirteen Colonies– was raised over an American naval vessel.

Continental Ship Alfred (1775-1778) Painting in oils by W. Nowland Van Powell, depicting Lieutenant John Paul Jones raising the Grand Union flag as Alfred was placed in commission at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3 December 1775. Commanded by Captain Dudley Saltonstall, Alfred was the flagship of Commodore Esek Hopkins’ Continental Navy flotilla during the remainder of 1775 and the first four months of 1776. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. Donation of the Memphis Council, U.S. Navy League, 1776. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 85212-KN

The ship, originally named Black Prince, was built at Philadelphia in 1774 and acquired by the Continental Congress in November 1775. Renamed Alfred, she had the newly minted Continental Navy LT John Paul Jones, a Scot, hoist the Grand Union Flag during the commissioning ceremony.

A Grand Union Flag, circa 1775-1776, displayed in 1926. USN 900248

The ship was outfitted with numerous small guns: 20 9-pounder smooth-bore cannon and 10 6-pounder smooth-bore cannon, and served admirably and against all odds until 9 March 1778, when, under the command of Elisha Hinsman near Barbados, she encountered the faster British warships Ariadne and Ceres and was captured, then ignobly pressed into service with the Crown.

By that time, John Paul Jones had moved on to his own command and was noted as writing, “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

The Cold Desperate Fire of the Sapper Steel Battalion

Posted on December 1, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

It is unusual for American units to burn their colors every year, but there is one, the 2nd Engineer Battalion.

During the Battle of Kunu-ri in the Korean War, in late November 1950, with an tsunami of Chinese “volunteers” close to overrunning the 8th Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, the division’s attached 2nd Engineer Battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Alarich “Al” Zacherle, elected to set his unit’s own colors ablaze rather than let them be captured by the enemy and used as a trophy.

It was clear to Zacherle that his unit, left to perform a rear guard action as the division left the mountain pass, would likely be mauled if not eliminated in toto.

Founded in 1861 and first seeing combat at Antietam, then fighting in the Great War and WWII with the 2nd Division, the unit had 25 hard-earned battle streamers, at least three French Croix de Guerre, and a Presidential Unit Citation by 1950.

“The colors, box and all, were drenched with gasoline,” Zacherle wrote in a 1996 letter to the battalion’s association. “A last look at the colors with the unbelievable number of battle streamers were imprinted on our minds. Setting the fire produced a bright blaze that denied the enemy of a trophy they surely would have greatly prized.”

When the 2nd Battalion regrouped after the withdrawal, just 266 of its 787 Soldiers were present for roll call. While 331 of those “missing” had been captured, only 117 of those men survived the conflict.

Zacherle was a prisoner of war from 30 November 1950 to September 1953 at Pyeongtaek, but, repatriated post-ceasefire, lived to a ripe old age of 94, passing in Florida in 2005. He reportedly weighed but 80 pounds when released.

For at least the past 30 years, the unit, now as the Fort Bliss-based 1st Armored Division’s 2d Brigade Engineer Battalion (2BEB), has held a burning ceremony with each Soldier present reading off the name of a fallen/missing circa 1950 member of the battalion as the roll is called.

It concludes with Taps and a night shoot.

Final LCS delivered as Frigate Program tanks

Posted on December 1, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland 6 comments

Littoral Combat Ship 31, the future USS Cleveland, was delivered to the Navy on 26 November from Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, closing out the line.

While all 19 of the more successful Indianapolis-class variants have been delivered and commissioned (albeit with two early hulls laid up), and are increasingly being used in a minesweeper role, the 16 Freedom-class variants, of which Cleveland is the final hull, have been much less successful, and five of her sisters have already been retired.

Cleveland launched in April 2023 and has spent the past 31 months fitting out. By comparison, the last Indy, USS Pierre (LCS-38), only needed 14 months between christening (18 May 2024) and delivery (11 July 2025). Pierre’s entire construction period, from keel laying to commissioning, spanned 29 months.

Following commissioning in Cleveland, Ohio, in early 2026, LCS 31 will be homeported in Mayport, Florida, with her 10 active sisters.

When commissioned, LCS-31 will be the fourth U.S. Navy vessel named for the Ohio city after two cruisers (C-19/CL-21 and CL-55), which served in WWI and WWII, respectively, and LPD-7, a Cold War era amphibious transport dock commissioned in 1967 and disposed of in a 2024 SINKEX.

Fincantieri, meanwhile, is continuing to work on the first (and last) two hopelessly behind Constellation class frigates, while the other four on contract will be canceled.

The Navy has agreed to take the blame for the program’s mismanagement, even going so far as to indemnify Fincantieri while the shipyard “is expected to receive new orders to deliver classes of vessels in segments that best serve the immediate interests of the nation and the renaissance of U.S. shipbuilding, such as amphibious, icebreaking, and other special missions.”

Wow.

Buy ROK FFGs?

Perhaps we should just order some frigates off the shelf from Korea, where the third Chungnam-class (FFX) Batch-III frigate, the future ROKS Jeonnam (FFG-831), was launched at SK Ocean Plant in Goseong, Gyeongnam, on 25 November.

Small, 3,600-ton (4,300 full load) ships that run 423 feet oal, they run a CODAG setup that allows a 30 knot speed and 8,000nm range at 16 knots– ideal for convoy and patrol work. They run a phased-array four-sided AESA radar/IRST mast, carry a 5″/62 MK45 gun, have a VLS (64 K-SAAM, 8 land attack) system, all the ASW goodies (hull-mounted active sonar, towed passive, VLA, 324mm tubes), a hangar for an embarked helicopter, and a CIWS.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Jeonnam’s sister, the ROKS Gyeoungbuk (FFG-829), gives a better view of the class. If we could just whistle up 40 of these. Bulk contract. Single source. Roll it!

The old New York Reload

Posted on December 1, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Revolvers are slow to reload compared to autos, especially when talking about snubbies. Drawing a second loaded revolver is much faster than reloading, and experienced gunfighters such as those on the old NYPD Stakeout Units of the 1970s often carried a pair of revolvers. Hence the “New York Reload.”

Galco recently debuted a Masterbilt Dual Defense Rig for those cosplayers looking for leather to pull off a NYR.

With the Masterbilt Dual Defense Rig, Galco has resurrected three popular features for shoulder carry of revolvers: open front design, diagonal gun orientation, and two-gun carry.

The open front feature offers the smoothest draw, since no retention straps or other devices need to be overcome. Yet, the holsters retain the revolvers perfectly by the use of adjustable tension units.

The positioning of the holsters’ swivel keepers hearkens back to Galco’s original Jackass designs.

The butt-down/muzzle-up diagonal configuration is universally acknowledged as the best combination of draw speed and concealability.

I mean, it’s a $500 piece of leather, but Arizona-based Galco probably does leather better than anyone, as we found out on a factory tour a couple of years back.

Cel Shaded Cerakote Celebration: Beretta APX A1 Full Size Tactical

Posted on November 28, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

“You can’t ever be too rich, too good-looking, or too well-armed,” as the man says, and a Florida FFL Cerakote shop delivers on that mantra.

Fort Lauderdale-based A Really Bad Design is Alex Manzotti’s studio. A custom artist who cut his teeth using automotive paint on motorcycles and helmets more than 28 years ago, he first encountered Cerakote when a client insisted on using the coating on a bicycle. Four years ago, Manzotti and the shop became Cerakote certified, specialized in artistic applications, and today, as a 07 FFL/ 02 SOT, works exclusively with Cerakote, using it on firearms – and everything else.

A quick look at the shop’s social media shows they have done hundreds of firearms since then in any number of styles.

A Really Bad Design Cerakote Berettas — *Check out these brushed steel Berettas with color accents. (Photos: A Really Bad Design)*

Cel shading

One of the most complicated Cerakoting techniques is mimicking cel shading or “toon art.” Cel shading dates back to the 1980s and is typically applied to flat animation to create the illusion of depth, effectively turning 2D into a perception of 3D. Moving into more modern eras, rotoscoping and Sobel filtering have taken traditional cel shading to a sharper edge, as seen in popular game franchises such as “Borderlands.”

Taking that 2D to 3D style and emulating it on a real object, such as a bike helmet or a firearm, takes skill and genuine artistic capability.

Manzotti has both.

Check out these five Beretta APX A1s he did earlier this summer as a project for the iconic gunmaker:

For Cerakote nerds, the colors used in the project included Periwinkle, Carbon Black, Yellow Jacket, Prison Pink, Slate, Aztec Teal, Burnt Orange, Black Cherry, Robin’s Egg Blue, and Green Mamba.

The result is two APX A1 Full Size Tacticals (Yellow and Gray), and three standard APX A1 full-size models (Cherry, Toxic Green, and Miami Daze).

Beretta sent us the Gray Tactical for a closer look, and it’s impressive. We specifically asked for the Gray as it would give us a better look at the technique, and with cel shading, it is all about the time-consuming technique.

“The work is entirely manual and has many steps,” Manzotti told Guns.com, speaking to how cel shading is harder to pull off when compared to some other effects.

Cerakoted Beretta APX A1 Full Size Tactical — *(Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)*

As with everything, natural lighting makes colors look different.

*And yes, it still shoots, as you would expect for a Beretta. Those extendo mags really help with reloads.*

We’d like to thank Alex Manzotti and the whole gang at A Really Bad Design for their help with this piece, as well as everyone over at Beretta who helped make it possible.

gun culture

Nord Poilus

Posted on November 28, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Some 110 years ago this week, 22 November 1915. French lines “Somewhere on the Western Front.”

Official caption: “Three men in the cold, in a front-line trench, wearing hats and scarves. One of them, sitting on the firing bench, is handling grenades. While they seem like North African riflemen (Tirailleurs nord africain), they are actually just standard Poliu infantry equipped with mountain caps and hats.”

Note their Lebel rifles and long spike bayonets, as well as the man holding the early F1 (Fusante No. 1) cast-iron fragmentation grenade. Réf. : SPA 1 S 21 Emmanuel Mas/ECPAD/Défense

Stay warm out there, guys.

German big cat show

Posted on November 28, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Last week in Munich, the German Bundeswehr introduced the new Kampfpanzer Leopard 2 A8 main battle tank to the public. The service, which has ordered 123 of the model thus far, stresses that, rather than upgrading older tanks, the Leopard A8 is a completely new design – and thus the first newly built MBT for the German Army since 1992.

Im Werk von KNDS wird der neue Leopard 2 A8 vorgestellt.

Of note, the display model included a Rafael EuroTrophy Active Protection System (APS) factory-installed. While 1,900 MBTs and AFVs around the world have Trophy, this is the first factory-fresh Leopard with the system. It also has a fully digital fire-control suite and an all-round situational awareness system with sensor-fusion capability on top of a host of improvements to the benchline Leopard 2A7HU production model.

Panzer Leopard rollt in München vom Band. Mit dabei: der Inspekteur des Heeres Ulrich de Maizière und Verteidigungsminister Kai-Uwe von Hassel.

The Germans have taken a keen interest in how second/third-hand Leopard 2A4/2A4V/2/2A6s have performed (and have been zapped) during real-life combat in Ukraine over the past few years to improve 2A8.

The first production models fielded will be with the PzBrig 45, also known as the Lithuania Brigade (Litauenbrigade), Germany’s first armored unit based abroad permanently since 1945.

Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann’s sizzle reel:

Future 2A8 operators besides Germany include the Netherlands (46 on order), Norway (54), Czechia (77), Lithuania (44), Italy (132), and Sweden (44), while Austria, Slovakia, and Croatia are all negotiating a purchase, making the new big cat a de facto NATO standard.

1965 Similarity

The rollout comes a little over 60 years since the original Leopard hit the scene, also in a similar event in Munich.

The Bundestag in 1964 allocated 1.5 billion DM for the purchase of 1,500 units of the new model. Subsequently, on 9 September 1965, a test drive was held at Krauss-Maffei in Munich, the main manufacturer, by Defense Minister Kai-Uwe von Hassel (CDU).

Inspector of the Army, Ulrich de Maizière, and the Minister of Defense, Kai-Uwe von Hassel, the first Leopard tank rolled off the assembly line in Munich, Sept 23 1965 (Panzer Leopard rollt in München vom Band. Mit dabei: der Inspekteur des Heeres Ulrich de Maizière und Verteidigungsminister Kai-Uwe von Hassel.)

The official handover of the first Leopard production model to the 4th Company of Panzerlehrbataillon 93 occurred soon after.

By 1976, the Bundeswehr’s total inventory already comprised almost 2,500 Leopard 1s.

Over 10,000 Leopard tanks have been made across the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 lines, with the Leopard 1 having 6,485 total units built and the Leopard 2 having over 3,600 battle tanks produced since 1979.

And, since you have come this far and may be curious, this is what the U.S. is up to these days with the Abrams– or isn’t.

Meet the M1E3.

Chosin Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2025 by laststandonzombieisland One comment

75 years ago.

Official caption: Thanksgiving Turkey is prepared for members of the Camp Pendleton-based “Fighting Fifth” Marine Regiment near the Chosin Reservoir of North Korea, 21 November 1950.

At this stage, a lot of folks thought the Korean Campaign was a wrap with “home by Christmas” talk being thrown around.

Marine Photo A4975 by Sgt FC Kerr, National Archives Identifier 74242756

The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir/Battle of Lake Changjin would kick off just six days after the happy image above was snapped.

Lasting approximately 17 days, it pitted 120,000 enemy Chinese “volunteers” of the Red 9th Army against a force of just 30,000, mostly Marines (primarily of the 1st Marine Division’s 5th, 7th and 11th Marines augmented by the British 41 Commando RM and assigned Sailors) as well as a smattering of Soldiers from the 3rd and 7th Army Infantry Divisions.

This, as an estimated 300,000 Chinese poured across the Yalu, forced MacArthur to notify Washington, “We face an entirely new war.”

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laststandonzombieisland

Weapons, Wars, Preparation and Security from a recovering gun nut turned bad writer

You can almost see Santa’s house from here

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The PCC in your Waistband

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From small beginnings…

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The Cold Desperate Fire of the Sapper Steel Battalion

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